DC

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3. I learned the difference between a mission and vision. I also learned how to use wikispaces. I learned a lot about how and why Borders closed down.
4. I found all the reasons that Borders shut down very interesting. Also, I think that this class in itself is very interesting. 5. I don't have any questions abuot this week.

Week of August 29-Strategic Planning 2.This week I learned a lot about the SWOT process of companies. We learned that SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunites, and threats. 3. I found it interesting that some things we think would be good for a company could actually be bad for the company. Also, I found it interesting to learn so much about the companies people choose to research for thier SWOT project. I learned a lot about Hollister Co. because that was the company that I researched. 4. My question would be how will knowing the SWOT about companies help in the future, if it would help at all?

Week of September 12- September 16: Week 4--Shareholder Value/ Finances 2. This week I learned a lot about retained earnings. I learned that businesses use a certain amount of money to either go back to the business or go to employees. 3. The thing I found interesting this week was all the hands on things we were doing. We were actually working on the computers with many different things, instead of just getting lectured. 4. My question for this week is, Why are retained earnings so important to buinesses?

Week September 26-30 This week I learned a lot about trends. I found it interesting that business use trends to make business decisions. Depending on the trends that are out is the way they advertise their products. If there is a big trend on skinny jeans, then a business isnt going to start making bell bottom jeans. They want to create things that are in and will make them money. I found it interesting that certain ethnicities like certain things. There are certain products that attract a ethnicity. One example is Ebony Magazine. They are targeting black women. They will not go to an all white neighborhood and try to sell this magazine.

Week October 3-7 This week I learned a lot about ethnography. I learned that ethnography is a type of study without just asking questions and giving surveys. I also learned a lot about making a new product and what it takes to actually get your product out there. I thought that it was interesting how much was actually put in to an ethnography. I also thought this weeks presentation was very interesting. I really liked it because they got us involved. We didnt just sit there and listen to them lecture us about there presentation. Instead they got us up and had us do an activity. I think that actually made me understand what was going on more. Being involved helped me to remember what they were saying.

Week October 10-14 This week I learned a lot about was the confectionary strategies. One thing that I thought was interesting was the candy game. Trying to put a timeline together for when the candy came out was very difficult. We didnt really have anything right. I found it interesting because some of the candies we thought would be the oldest actually came out last. I also liked making the little advertisments for the candy. I thought it was very funny.

Week October 17-21 This week was all about learning about production development. It is very important to businesses so they can actually have products that succeed. You have to go through a long process in order to get a product finished. I found it interesting that you could put in so much work with one product and it could still fail. I liked that we learned more about healthy stuff instead of chocolate. I really liked the ReGen that we got because it helped me not be sore on Thursday after practice.

Week October 25-29 This week was all about trial production. I had so much fun this week. It was our first week with a fieldtrip. I learned a lot on the field trip. They gave us a really big tour on the building. While touring the whole building they gave us so much information about what goes on in the building. The thing that I found most interesting on the field trip was the room with the flavors. I think it is awesome that you can create so many flavors with chemicals that taste like the same thing. I found it very interesting that so much could happen in such a little building. I think that we should go on a lot more field trips.

Week October 31-November 4 This week was all about brands. Brands are a type of company that the company goes by. We come in contact with brands everyday. One of my favorite brands is Hollister. It is my favorite clothing store. One thing that I found interesting is that Hershey comes in to competition with other brands. Some of these brands are food brands and some arent. I found that interesting because Hershey is a food company but could still have competition with a company that is not in food. This week was fun because we all could relate to brands.

Week November 28-December 2 This week was all about Special Events. We learned a lot about how companies have events to make there products more known. I found it interesting that Hershey is paired with NCAA basketball. They support Reese's. The Reese's are all over the courts and stands at the games. Also we learned about Tide's special event. Their event is to wash clothes for people that suffored in the hurricane Katrina. Another special event we talked about was Walgreens. They had an AARP bus. The VERB special event was the most interesting to me. I thought that it was awesome that those balls traveled all around the country and so many kids played with them. I think its an amazing idea.

Week December 5-9 This week was all about product safety. We learned a lot about the FDA. The FDA is the Food & Drug administration. The FDA has guidelines that all companies have to follow when making their products. We also learned about the CPSC, which stands for the consumer product safety commision. I found it interesting that many products get recalled. I also found it interesting that products would even be put out on the market if they are not safe. Overall, products go through many different procedures to go through to get to the market.

Week December 12-16 This week was all about Product Components. I learned a lot about how businesses buy their ingredients. They buy them from all over the world. I thought it was interesting how much research goes into buying products. They have to watch out for the prices, quantity, and how they are making their products. I had a lot of fun asking questions about how they bought the products. I thought the one on one and the small group to one staff was very informative and gave more chance to ask questions and really learn.

Week January 3- 6 This week was all about Packaging. I learned a lot about Packaging Engineers. I learned about all the things that packaging does for a product. Packaging has to decide the tone of the color, the type of package, and so many more things. It is there job to make the packaging benefit the product. I found it interesting that if you make a product look fancy people will pay more for it. We talked about how a perfume that smells really good but in a normal carboard box sells for $12. However, a perfume that smells bad that is in a fancy box with a ribbon on it sells for $300.

Week January 9-13 This week was all about Product Planning. I learned about how companies set up there production lines. I learned that the Hershey Comany makes their candy 4 weeks before they actually need them. I also learned that they need to make their products in a certain line up because of food allergins. I found it interesting that the Reeses product makes about 1.3 billion of the dollars that the Hershey Company gets. I found it interesting that they have ten different distribution centers across the country.

Week January 23-27 This week was all about warehousing. I learned all about how it works. I learned how complicated a warehouse could be. There is so many different things that go together to be able to make everything run smoothly. You have to use the first products that come in before the others in FIFO. A warehouse needs to be set up a certain way in order to make sure the space is being used correctly. I learned that there are words used in the warehouse like rendered which means delivered to. I found it interesting how a warehouse needs to be strategically set up in order to run the way its supposed to run.

Week January 30- February 4 The first step of Order Management is to take an order. There are many ways an order can be received. One way is by telephone. A company can call the Order Management and place an order of what product they would like to receive. Another way is to get online and send an EDI, VMI, or an email to the company. Also you could simply fax your form. The second step is to get on ATP to manage prices, source, and check the credit. The third step that needs to occur is to tag products if they have them if not then Customer Service will have to take over and solve the complications. Sometimes you can call a different warehouse to see if they have the product. Also you have to call the company to make sure that they know about the complications. There is also a possibility that the company will need to send the products later. The forth step is the Available to Promise (ATP) is checked to see if products can be given according to time. The final step is to actually send the order. You want to make sure that the truck is completely full. No company wants to spend money to send air.

Week February 6-10

Over the past three weeks I have realized that warehousing, order management, and distribution are relatable in many ways. Three main relations are products, communication, and transportation. If there were not any products then warehousing, order management, and distribution would not be needed. They need to come together in order to maintain management of the product. If there was no communication between them then the product could be on the opposite side of the country. Communication is the most important thing between them. The third most important theme is transportation. The products wouldn’t get anywhere without having transportation take the product to where it needs to be. Without any three of these themes it would be hard for warehousing, order management, and distribution to run smoothly.

Week February 22-24 This week was all about Public Relations. I learned so much from our presentor because she didnt go off her powerpoint but instead got interactive and had us engaged. It seems like PR's have a lot of responsibility but that hard work pays off. I found it interesting how close they have to work with the law. I learned that they dont have a set work schedule, they stay as late needed to complete everything and come in as early as they need to get their work done. I thought it was interesting that they travel all around the world for their job. I personally dont think I could be a PR because of all the work they have to undergo and the stress but I think all the traveling would be fun. Also, I found it interesting that even in a economic downfall there will always be money for PR because theres not a lot of money necessary.

Week February 27- March 2 This week was all about advertising. I liked all the commericials that we saw about the different Hershey products. I found it interesting that you can make so much money for being in a commercial. Not only do you get $883 for being in the commercial, but you can get anywhere from $60- $80 thousand for them playing the commercial. I would not pursue a career in advertising only for the fact that I am not a very creative person. Some people would love to go to work and be creative all day, but to me that is very boring. However, I found it fun that you get to work in a group and they could be very different from you.

Week March 5-9 This week was all about Product Placement. This week we learned how products are placed on shelves in stores. In class we took a quiz on where the best places to place products are. the top shelves are usually used for adult products. The middle shelf is usually used for children that are sitting in carts. The bottom shelves can be used for kids items and also the heavy products. I found that when Jelly was put at eye level the product sales increased. I also found interesting that heavy products shouldnt be put on top shelves. One question I have is why is candy always the last thing on someones mind in stores but the first at home?